Friday, June 20, 2008

Anything worth fighting for generally involves some fighting

Apparently, some people (including Senator Obama himself) are becoming rather miffed that not every Democrat is prepared to support or vote for Senator Obama. (My own position remains the same: I will not vote for Senator McCain because I disagree with his policies; and at the moment I will not vote for Senator Obama primarily because I have serious objections to his health care plan and his proposals about withdrawing from Iraq, but also because, the process by which he has come to be the presumptive nominee has not been procedurally fair, in my opinion. Senator Obama himself stood in the way of correcting inequity in the process, and even now as the presumptive Democratic nominee, who has consolidated his campaign with the D.N.C. over in Chicago, he has offered no assurances, made no insistence that the D.N.C. Convention in Denver be procedurally meticulous and transparent. As a Democrat, who knows that candidates up and down the Democratic ticket need a Party that people trust and respect, I know the D.N.C. must repair its legitimacy for the long term good of the country.

Meanwhile, somebody just told me that although my writings on this blog were once "laudable" now they are "divisive". Be that as it may, this got me thinking about my personal favorite "divisive" Americans. Who are yours?

I don't think one can be divisive if something is already fractured. Broken. Completely split. That is the current situation in the "democratic" party and it's certainly not your doing nor is it Hillary's -- it's BO's and the DNC's. Until they attempt to make some repairs those of us who comment on it or lament about it are not, in my opinion, those who are divisive.

Since when is speaking your mind being divisive. I thought that was what should do in a democracy. What you write is the truth and if it bothers some that is their problem. Your list shows that you are in good company.

It's just amazing to me that the people who are actually calling attention to what really happened this election cycle are the divisive ones. The supposedly divisive ones are the ones who are actually trying to return the Democratic Party to democracy. The divisive ones are those trying to have a fair convention that reflects how conventions have been run for the past 30 years. Yes, we're so damn divisive! Shame on us! What could we possibly be thinking?

This is the exact same republican talking point that was used against Senator Clinton by the Obama campaign, his supporters and the press. I wonder how they would have felt if they were being called unpatriotic for supporting Senator Obama. This is after all the candidate who sat for more than 20 years in an anti-American church. I say what's good for the goose... If you are divisive, then the devil was Mary and Joseph's love child. Divisive. That is one that is used to shut people up. You are not going to fall for it, are you?

I am adding Senator Hillary Clinton - and with the utmost respect. I am glad that she has divided some of us from those who choose to blindly follow the Democratic party. In honor of her name on this list, I just upped the ticker by another $50. We are only $106 short of the goal. Would someone else join me in honoring Senator Clinton with their contribution?

I'm sorry but anyone whose mind lets the word "divisive" slip out in relation to you needs to understand just how divisive such a statement would be unto itself. You are one of the healers attempting to repair a broken system, not by dividing, but by working hard to find a way within and around division with a goal of bringing people together for some common ground to build from. Today, in my mind, your name is at the top of that list.

And let's not forget Gavin Newsome, who courageously started marrying gay people several years ago - even before the recent CA Supreme Court decision - because it was the right thing to do. And even though our current, pretentious nominee refuses to have his picture taken with him. Quite frankly, if I were Newsome, I would refuse to have my picture taken with Barrack Obama.